Island



2 SheetsSheet 1.

. S. W BAKER. PRINTERS LAPPING.

No. 35,133. Patented May 3, 1862.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2- S. W. BAKER. PRINTERS LAPPING.

No. 35,133. Patented May 6, 1862.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SETH BAKER, OF PROVIDENCE, RIIODE ISLAND.

PRINTERS LAPPING.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,133, dated May 6, 1862.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SETH TBAKER, of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lapping used in Machines for Printing Textile Fabrics; and I do hereby declare that the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings hereinafter referred to, forms a full and exact specification of the same, wherein l have set forth the nature and principles of m y said improvements by which my in vention maybe distinguished from all others of a similar class, together with such parts as I claim and desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent.

The present invention consists in a new form of lapping to be used in machines for the printing of textile faliirics in lieu of that heretofore employed. Previous to describing my invention in detail I propose to explain r some of the peculiarities of calico and other printing, as experienced in the use of the ordinary lapping, in order that the defects of the old system and the difficulties to be overcome therein maybe fully understood and the Q great advance in the results obtained by my improvements appreciate].

The lappiilg heretofore universally used in 1 machines for printing fabrics hasbeen formed j by winding the cloth of which it is composed, usually linen and wool, about the cylinder,

making its thickness about one-half an inch,

the object being to obtain a peculiarly soft,

tough, and at the same time semi-clastie bearing for the fabric while being printed. This lapping is kept in place simply by the revolutions in opposite directions of the engraved printing-rolls and its own cylinder, which receives its movement from the said printingrolls. This lapping has, among many others, the following defects: It requires frequent renewals, as its outer surface is limited nearly to that of the cylinder upon which it is wound, and these frequent changes occasion much trouble and great loss of time, as the whole printing operation has to be suspended while a new lapping is being applied to the machine. The inequality of surface at the point where thelapping ends meet often causes an unevenness in the print, known among printers by J the term the lapping-end shows. It is li- ,1 able to break and lead to the bad conseiquences known as lapping broke. The most essential defects, however, in the use of i the ordinary lapping arise from the necesi sarily great pressure to which it is subjected i by the action of the printing-rolls. The necessity for the enormous pressure employed proceeds from the fact that the lapping,

which as before stated, affords but a very limited extent of surface or periphery, soon becomes hard by the constant action of the I printing-rolls upon it, and as it is well known that much more pressure is requisite to prol duce a good impression upon a fabric rest- 3 ing upon a hard and rigid bed than upon one less unyielding it will be evident that in order to get a good imprint of the patterns the pressure must be increased in proportion as the lapping grows hard. Moreover, as the folds or windings of the lapping are only kept in their place upon the cylinder by the revolution of the printing-rolls in an opposite direction, they become stretched and slip upon each other, and thus spoil the print, this defeet frecpicntl y not being discovered until the whole piece to be printed has passedthrough the machine. This winding and drawing of the folds of the lapping together by the printing-rolls and the consequent straining and stretching of their texture tends stillfur- I ther to destroy the peculiar bearing-surface which. it should possess, rendering it hard, uneven, and inelastic. Th ese difficulties arising from the hardening of the lapping are fully known among practical printers and are straining of the lapping. As the chief Value and excellence of a print depend upon the sharpness and clcarness with which its lines I and figures are brought out, the serious loss to which the manufacturer is subjected by the occurrence of these hitherto unavoidable results in the use of the ordinary lapping will readily be manifest. Another imperfection so diflicult to be overcome that many patterns known as seam showing is occasioned by the hardening of the lapping which causes the impression of the seams of the gray cloths used for f backers to show upon the print. Finally, the great pressure of the engraved printing-rollsnecessary from the hardening of the lappingforces the mordants used in surplus quantities into the iibers of the cloth and produces a discolored back.

Thus it will be seen from the foregoing statement that many of the most serious defects in the printing of textile fabrics arise from the use of the lapping heretofore employed; To obviate the imperfections of the old lapping, so as to produce a much better class of prints and more economically than by the former method, .is the object of my improvements.

In conceiving and carrying out my invention, after many trials and experiments and with a full examination and study of the causes that occasioned the inferior results obtained, it became evident that to produce a perfectlapping it should possess the following requisites: First, it should afford a much greater bearingsurface than the old lapping without increasin gthe size of the lapping-cylind or. This will prevent the wearing of the printing-rolls constantly upon nearly the same portion of the cloth of which the lapping is composed, which, as before explained, stretch es and hardens the lapping and renders great pressure necessary in imparting the impression to the cloth, thereby soon taking away that pliable and elastic quality which is so requisite to its perfoot operation and rendering frequent renewals necessary; secondly, it should have a perfectly even surface at the point where the lap ping ends meet, so that no impression shall be imparted to the print from the lapping end; thirdly, it should not be made up from thin loose folds or layers, which can only constitute a hard unyielding bearing, but should be formed in one thick compact body orin thick sheets of woven fabrics permanently united to each other, so as to avoid the slipping and shifting of the folds upon each other and the straining and hardening of the lapping by the constant tightening of its spiral coils under the action of the printing-rolls.

By my invention I have succeeded in combining in a lapping all the requisites hereinabove alluded to as essential to its perfect operation, and which prevents all the imperfeet'results arising from the use of the old lapping.

In the accompanying drawings my improvements are represented as applied to-an ordinary calico-printing machine. Figure 1 is a side view of the machine with my improved lapping. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same.

00 a a in the drawings represent the framework of the machine; I) b b, &c., the printingrolls, and c the cylinder. Around the cylinderc' and over suitable guiding-rolls, d (I, &c., passes my improved lapping e. (Represented around which and a series of rollers it is so passed and held as to revolve with the said cylinder. The mode by which I prefer to make the thick web constituting thelapping is that described in the schedule annexed to the Letters Patentof the United States, granted to John Gujer, hearing date May 18, 1858, and numbered 20,967. The web may be formed of one thick fabric thus woven, or may consist of two or more thicknesses united by rubber or other cement, or by a thin sheet of rubber or gutta-percha. One or both of its surfaces may be covered or coated with india-rubber or gutta-percha, as I have found good results in use both with and without such surfaces. The ends of the band or web are then united so as to form a strong lap without any perceptible seam or joint, and prevent any unevenness of surface at the united ends, by a peculiar mode which I have made the subject of a separate application for Letters Patent.

I am aware that a short blanket composed of thin sheets of cloth or rubber cemented to each other has been used in connection with a calico-printing machine, but this could not afford the peculiar bearing required, as thin sheets of cloth or other material so united present too hard and unyielding a surface, and the great quantity of cement necessarily used in uniting so many layers still further increased the stiffness and rigidity of the blanket. Such a blanket, moreover, never has been or could be used as a lapping, but was designed simply to serve as a covering or protection to the-.ordii'iary lapping, whereas my improved band is a lapping per se.

Having thus fully described my invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect, what I claim as my invention is 1. A lappingmade in the form of an endless belt or band and composed of one or more layers or thicknesses of thick woven material, either with or without a surface or coating of india-rubber or gutta-percha, substantially as described.

' 2. The method herein described of printing textile fabrics by the employment of an end less lapping, constructed substantially as de scribed, so as to operate in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

S. W. BAKER.

\Vitnesses:

JOSEPH GAVETT,

A. W. BROWN. 

